Israeli Law
There must be a civil legal distinction continued between law inside Israel and in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories, over the internationallly recognized Green Line, where Jewish settlers live).
The Netanyahu Finance Minister Smotrich is trying desperately to erase this line, to get his numbers up for the upcoming election, because he has consistently been unable to cross the threshhold to get re-elected to the Knesset. As the Knesset gets ready to disband (phew) for elections, he is playing to his base and putting Israel’s future in danger.
For those who seek to make an impact to end the occupation, this is precisely the type of move that must be stopped and if passed, sanctioned. From today’s Yedioth Ahranot’s Yoram Ettinger:
“Another bill that has sparked political controversy and is of great importance to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich involves advancing tax benefits for Judea and Samaria, as well as civilian communities located along the conflict-line within two kilometers of the border. The bill caused an uproar after Finance Committee Chairman MK Hanoch Milwidsky (Likud) and northern municipal leaders demanded the eligibility be extended to communities located up to nine kilometers from the northern border. Ultimately, Netanyahu intervened and requested that the Finance Committee chairman accept Smotrich’s original proposal.
“The opposition has accused Smotrich of engaging in election-year economics. For his part, Smotrich countered: “Until 2003, tax benefits existed in Judea and Samaria as well. The Sharon government abolished them, and since then, no one has had the courage to reinstate them. As part of the lessons of October 7, and to prevent the next massacre from taking place in the center of the country, heaven forfend, I am now seeking to rectify this as well. I want to make it clear that the government of Israel is highly motivated to encourage people to live in Judea and Samaria, [in order both] to kill the concept of a Palestinian state, and to fortify Israel’s security. Specifically, in order to avoid claims that I am ‘taking care of my own voters,’ I opted for the minimum existing rate of 7%, and applied it only to communities deep within the territory.””